Japan’s onna bugeisha (female warriors) aren’t often portrayed in Samurai films but they existed. While the title of Samurai was only given to men, there were many women who trained and fought alongside them in battle. Onna bugeisha often used a weapon called a naginata, which is a long pole with a curved blade at one end. Being a longer weapon than the sword, it gave them a distance advantage against physically stronger male enemies. For similar reasons, women also commonly used a bow and arrow. Even today, the naginata is practiced as a traditional weapon, mainly by female students.
This is an interesting story about one particular onna bugeisha named Nakano Takeko. It was originally posted on Vintage News here: https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/01/27/female-samur/
Nakano Takeko lived in the 19th century. While she was leading a charge against Imperial Japanese Army troops of the Ōgaki Domain in south-central Japan, she was shot in the chest. Knowing her remaining time on earth to be short, Takeko asked her sister, Yūko, to cut her head off and have it buried rather than permit the enemy to seize it as a trophy. It was taken to Hōkai Temple and buried underneath a pine tree.
More pictures can be found on dangerousminds here: http://dangerousminds.net/comments/mess_with_these_female_japanese_warriors_from_long_ago_and_youll_regret_it
Robert R. Gray 